Practitioner record · Checked 7 Oct 2026

Martha "Marti" Stany has been in practice 10 years and is licensed in Wisconsin. Martha lists stress, Anxiety, LGBT and trauma and abuse among 58 subjects on the BetterHelp roster.

Everything below is either quoted from Martha's own BetterHelp listing, taken from public licensing records, or written by Maker Therapy and labelled as such. Nothing here is an availability promise, a review, or a rating.

10years in practice
58subjects listed
14approaches listed

01 · Who Martha works with

Martha works with stress, Anxiety, LGBT and trauma and abuse

Martha lists 20 specialisms and 38 further focus areas. Specialisms are the subjects Martha chose to list first, which is the closest a listing gets to “this is my actual practice”.

Specialisms
  • Stress, Anxiety
  • LGBT
  • Trauma and abuse
  • Intimacy-related issues
  • Coping with life changes
  • Addictions
  • Relationship issues
  • Family conflicts
  • Grief
  • Eating disorders
  • Sleeping disorders
  • Parenting issues
  • Anger management
  • Self esteem
  • Career difficulties
  • Bipolar disorder
  • Depression
  • Coaching
  • Compassion fatigue
  • ADHD
Also experienced with
  • Attachment issues
  • BDSM, kink, and alternative sex culture
  • Blended family issues
  • Body image
  • Caregiver issues and stress
  • Commitment issues
  • Communication problems
  • Control issues
  • Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
  • Dissociation
  • Divorce and separation
  • Emptiness
  • Family of origin issues
  • Family problems
  • Forgiveness
  • Gender dysphoria
  • Guilt and shame
  • Infidelity
  • Isolation / loneliness
  • Jealousy
  • Life purpose
  • Men's issues
  • Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
  • Mood disorders
  • Panic disorder and panic attacks
  • Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
  • Post-traumatic stress
  • Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
  • Self-love
  • Sex addiction
  • Sexual assault and abuse
  • Sexual dysfunction
  • Sexuality
  • Social anxiety and phobia
  • Traumatic brain injury
  • Women's issues
  • Workplace issues
  • Young adult issues

02 · In Martha's own words

What Martha says about the work

Reproduced in full and unedited - not summarised, not tightened, not rewritten in a house voice.

I am a licensed clinical social worker in Texas, Colorado, Illinois, and Wisconsin with over 10 years of professional experience. I specialize in supporting individuals navigating trauma, sexuality, intimacy, and mental health concerns. I have extensive experience working with LGBTQIA+ clients, those healing from trauma and abuse, and individuals or couples facing relationship and intimacy challenges.

My approach is compassionate, nonjudgmental, and rooted in the belief that you are the expert of your own story. I see therapy as a collaborative process where your innate strengths and wisdom are honored. Healing is possible, and I am here to support and empower you every step of the way as you move toward greater fulfillment, connection, and well-being.

Martha "Marti" Stany, on the BetterHelp listing · read 7 Oct 2026

03 · How Martha works

The 12 approaches Martha lists, in plain English

These are the clinical methods Martha lists. The descriptions are Maker Therapy's, not Martha's - a general explanation of what each method is, so the list means something before you have spoken to anybody. They are not a claim about how Martha runs a session.

Acceptance and Commitment TherapyACT
Rather than trying to argue a painful thought away, ACT works on loosening its grip and getting on with what matters to you anyway. Sessions spend real time naming your values, then building action around them while difficult feelings are still present.
Attachment-Based Therapy
Reads present-day relationship difficulty through the lens of how safety and closeness were learned early on. The therapeutic relationship itself is treated as part of the work, because it is where the pattern tends to show up first.
Client-Centred TherapyPerson-centred · Rogerian
The therapist does not steer toward a technique or a diagnosis. They offer sustained, non-judgemental attention and reflect back what they hear, on the premise that people find their own direction when they are genuinely listened to. Often what people mean by “someone who just gets it”.
Cognitive Behavioural TherapyCBT
Structured, present-focused work on the loop between what you think, how you feel and what you then do. Usually means noticing a thought pattern in the room, testing it against evidence, and practising something different between sessions. Among the most heavily researched talking therapies for depression and anxiety.
Dialectical Behaviour TherapyDBT
A structured skills-led adaptation of CBT built around holding two things at once: accepting yourself as you are and working to change. Teaches concrete skills for distress tolerance, emotion regulation and relationships. Developed for people whose feelings arrive at overwhelming intensity, and strongest-evidenced there.
Eye Movement Desensitisation and ReprocessingEMDR
A structured trauma protocol in which you hold a distressing memory in mind while following a repeated side-to-side cue. The mechanism is still debated; the outcome data in post-traumatic stress is strong enough that it appears in national treatment guidelines.
The Gottman Method
A couples approach built on decades of observational research into what distinguishes relationships that last. Structured and assessment-led: it maps friendship, conflict and shared meaning, then works on the specific mechanics of how the two of you argue.
Mindfulness-Based TherapyMBCT
Trains attention on what is happening right now - body, breath, the thought as it arrives - so distress can be observed rather than automatically acted on. Strongest evidence is in preventing depression from recurring, and it is usually taught as a practice you keep doing outside the session.
Motivational InterviewingMI
A way of talking about change with somebody who is genuinely in two minds about it. The therapist does not argue for the change; they help you say your own reasons out loud, which is the part that predicts whether it happens. Common around substance use and health behaviour.
Solution-Focused Brief TherapySFBT
Starts from where you want to end up rather than from how you got here. Sessions look for the times the problem is already smaller and work out what is different about those, so the number of sessions tends to be short and the work concrete.
Trauma-Focused TherapyTF-CBT · trauma-informed
CBT adapted for people whose difficulty is rooted in a frightening or overwhelming event. Pacing is the point: safety and stabilisation come first, the memory itself is approached gradually and only when you are ready, and the aim is that recalling it stops hijacking the present.
Internal Family SystemsIFS
Treats the mind as made up of parts - the critic, the one who withdraws, the one that keeps everything running - each of which is trying to protect you. The work is getting to know them rather than overruling them.

Also listed

  • Imago Relationship Therapy
  • Somatic Therapy

04 · What happens next

From this page to a first session

Martha practises through BetterHelp, so the route in is BetterHelp's. This is that sequence, written by Maker Therapy from the platform's published process - not a description of Martha's own practice, and not a promise about how quickly anything happens.

  1. A questionnaire, not a booking form

    BetterHelp opens with a set of questions about what you are dealing with, what you want from therapy, and any preferences on the therapist. You are not booking Martha at this point.

  2. Naming Martha specifically

    BetterHelp matches algorithmically by default, so asking for Martha is a step you have to take. There is a field for requesting a specific therapist during sign-up, and you can switch afterwards from your account. Starting from a link on this page does not by itself assign you to Martha.

  3. If the caseload is full

    You will be offered somebody else rather than put on a waitlist. Worth knowing, because it is easy to assume a match is the person you asked for.

  4. The first conversation

    A first session is typically history and orientation: what brought you, what has been tried, what you want to be different. It is also where the questions in the next section belong.

  5. If the fit is wrong

    Changing therapist on BetterHelp does not need a reason. A first session that does not click is common and is not a verdict on therapy. That option existing is the main practical difference between a platform and a private practice.

05 · Before you commit

3 questions worth asking Martha

Built from what Martha actually lists, so they are answerable and specific rather than generic. Maker Therapy's, not Martha's - Martha has not seen them and is under no obligation to answer any of them.

  • “You list both Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Attachment-Based Therapy. Which do you lean on with someone like me?”

    Those two point in different directions - one structured and led by the therapist, the other led by you. The answer tells you what the sessions will actually feel like.

  • “How do you decide when someone is ready to work on a traumatic memory itself?”

    Pacing is the biggest safety question in trauma work. A clear, unhurried answer here matters more than any credential.

  • “How do you handle the gap between sessions if something comes up?”

    On BetterHelp this varies a great deal by therapist. Better to know the rhythm now than to discover it on a bad week.

06 · Practical details

Credentials and licensing

Credential
LCSW
Licensed in
Wisconsin
Licence
TX LCSW 69314, IL LCSW 149018259
Licence number
69314
Licence expires
31 Mar 2028
NPI
1184034662
Years in practice
10
Gender
Female
Languages
English
International clients
Not accepted
Listed since
15 May 2026

07 · Provenance

Where every line on this page came from

Martha's name, credential, state, subjects, approaches and biography are read from BetterHelp's therapist roster, which Maker Therapy re-reads once a day; this page reflects the reading taken on 7 Oct 2026. The licence number and NPI are cross-checked against public registers.

The plain-English method descriptions, the first-session walkthrough and the questions are written by Maker Therapy and labelled as such wherever they appear.

Maker Therapy is not BetterHelp, does not take bookings, and has not met Martha. There are no reviews or ratings on this page because we have no way to verify one. If you start therapy through a link here, we may be paid a commission - it does not change your price and it does not affect who appears here or in what order.

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